Fort Smith residents who live along a stretch of Cliff Drive want the city to install “speed tables” in their 30 mph zone to slow motorists who “fly down that road.”

“For whatever reason, that stretch of road is used as a cut-through a lot,” Sebastian Hills resident and local attorney Robert Honea said. “Just living there day to day, it seems there is a lot of traffic on that road, and it’s not just the neighborhood traffic.”

“The distance from where it starts to where it ends is 20-30 feet,” Honea said. “It’s a very gradual rise. A car going 30 mph, you don’t even notice it. A car going 40, it’s a bump you notice.”

Honea presented the Fort Smith Board of Directors with a 55-signature petition Tuesday night during a Town Hall meeting. It says vehicles frequently travel in excess of 50 mph on Cliff Drive between Jenny Lind and Old Greenwood roads, and asks the city to fund the speed-controlling humps.

“It’s a problem,” Honea told directors. “People do fly down that road.”

Honea described speed tables as cost-effective, between $1,500-$2,000.

“From a public, civic standpoint, I think there is a very legitimate argument to be made that it’s a wise use of tax dollars,” he said. “But failing that, why not give neighborhoods the opportunity to finance it themselves in whole or in part?”

The Board of Directors agreed to discuss the matter at a future study session.

“Our plan is to come back in late October to review this with the board,” City Administrator Ray Gosack said.

In the meantime, the city plans to gather speed and traffic data from the area.